Short-handed UConn women proud of recent stretch

Rich Elliott

Updated 9:33 pm, Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sidelined by an injury, Connecticut's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (23) catches balls for teammates before an NCAA college basketball game against Penn State, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013, in State College, Pa.
Photo: John Beale, AP

Sidelined by an injury, Connecticut's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (23)...

Connecticut's Bria Hartley, right, steals the ball from Stanford's Lili Thompson, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, in Storrs, Conn. Hartley was top scorer for Connecticut with 20 points. Connecticut won 76-57.

Connecticut's Bria Hartley, right, is greeted by Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, in Storrs, Conn. Hartley was top scorer for Connecticut with 20 points. Connecticut won 76-57.
Photo: Jessica Hill, AP

STORRS -- The UConn women don't spend a lot of time appreciating the smaller accomplishments in their annual quest for a national championship. Reflection customarily takes place once the season is over.

The past couple of days, however, have been a bit different for the top-ranked Huskies. After consecutive wins over three top-13 teams in a span of seven days, there is a sense of pride emanating from the UConn locker room.

"When we got home, I think we were able to just take a deep breath and look back and it was a heck of an effort," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And they're proud of themselves, and I think that's what's most important. They're proud of themselves. They're proud of what they did. They feel great about what they did. And we as coaches couldn't be happier for them."

The Huskies (4-0) defeated then-No. 3 Stanford, then-No. 8 Maryland and then-No. 13 Penn State by an average of 18.3 points. The last two games were played on the road with only seven healthy full-scholarship players.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (right elbow) and Morgan Tuck (right knee) are not expected back for another three to five weeks.

"I think that we knew that we're down two players, but at the same time, the seven players, not counting the walk-ons, that we have are seven great players," UConn sophomore Breanna Stewart said. "And I think that knowing that we can win with the people that we have kind of makes it exciting looking forward to Morgan and Kaleena getting back."

The Huskies will not see another ranked opponent until they face No. 2 Duke in the Jimmy V Classic at Cameron Indoor Stadium Dec. 17. They begin a stretch tonight against Oregon at the XL Center (7, SNY) that will see them play four games in five days.

"With those games, it just showed that no matter what happened, we all stepped up and did what we had to to get the win," UConn senior Stefanie Dolson said.

Seven players averaged at least 7.3 points in the three games for the Huskies, led by Bria Hartley (19.7) and Stewart (16.3). Five players averaged at least 4.0 rebounds, led by Dolson (9.3) and Kiah Stokes (9.0). They collectively averaged only 11.0 turnovers.

Defensively, though, was the area where UConn was most impressive. The Huskies limited the Cardinal, Terrapins and Lady Lions to a combined average of 54.7 points and 34.4 percent shooting from the field while forcing 16.7 turnovers.

"It says a lot about our mindset defensively," Auriemma said. "And any time we have that kind of mindset defensively, I feel really, really good about our team. That's the one thing that came out of this (stretch), for me, is that defensively, we really showed a lot to ourselves and to everybody else."

UConn will not face another stretch like this over the final 26 games of the regular season. They have only five games remaining against ranked opponents -- Duke, No. 17 California on Dec. 22, No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 15 and two against No. 4 Louisville Feb. 9 and March 3.

"We had two great wins (on the road), two tough wins, and it's so early in the season that you're not sure what to expect," Dolson said. "I think if these games happened later in the season, we would know exactly what we had as a team and how it's going to get done. Being that it's so early, we just went, played and wanted to get better as a team. We did that."